


Fate and the Force

by mrichar7



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Love Triangles, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24566677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrichar7/pseuds/mrichar7
Summary: War between the Resistance and the First Order rages as both sides attempt to fill their ranks before coming to a head in a final battle for control of the galaxy. On the side of the Resistance, the Force has truly been awakened as more and more Force sensitive individuals are discovered. While Rey attempts to locate any information she can find about the Force and its uses and train the new Force sensitive recruits, personal feelings towards the two most important men in her life begin to cause problems.
Relationships: Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Kylo Ren/Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter One

** NELL **

In the quiet of the lush green jungle, a lone screeching noise could be heard faintly from a far distance. At the base of an ancient freighter ship known as the Millennium Falcon, a young woman called Nell sat reading a delicate-looking book. At the sound of the screech, she dropped the book down slightly. She frowned and squinted into the surrounding forest. Could she have imagined it?

The planet of Kalomo was known for its greenery and wildlife. Tropical birds had been singing to each other from different trees all morning. Perhaps one of them had made the noise. 

But then it came again, louder and more distinct this time. Nell jumped to her feet, the book falling to the forest floor out of her limp hands. Definitely a Tie Fighter. Without thinking twice she sprinted up the ramp that led into the Falcon and disappeared into the hull of the ship. After a moment an arm reappeared, reaching out towards the book she’d dropped. It twitched, the went flying into Nell’s hand.

The spine of the book smacked into Nell’s palm and she took off running again for the cockpit. She passed the holochess table and vaguely remembered that it was her turn to start first the next time her team played. She dropped the book unceremoniously onto the work table on the right.

As she reached the cockpit, Nell jumped into the pilot’s seat and started flipping all the switches that would start the engines running. Once she was finished, she hit the communications button at the side of the console. 

“Leader One, this is the Falcon.” Nell said hastily, she needn’t have worried though. He answered immediately.

“Falcon this is Leader One, status update?” The voice said, as loud as they dared while in the middle of their mission.

“Tie’s incoming, and quick. Should I head to rendezvous one?” Nell’s voice was jumpy, she could hear the Tie’s screams from inside the ship now.

“No!” The man said quickly, and louder than before. He seemed to recover himself as he said, “It’s too early, I haven’t even made contact yet. Go to rendezvous two first and then pick us up at the primary location.” 

“Yes sir, see you soon.” Nell switched over the communication signal with unease, this was going make things tricky. She hoped Finn would be alright with his exit vehicle so far off course.

“Leader Two, this is the Falcon.” Nell said again as she made it onto the new channel. Radio silence was the response.

“Leader Two?” She tried again, still nothing. Nell cast a glance up and out of the window in front of her, the sight of endless Tie Fighters and larger warships made her heart jump up into her throat.

“Rey?” She tried again, silence was all that greeted her. There was no alternative, she’d been given direct orders from Finn to go to rendezvous two. Nell sighed, letting the air escape through her lips loudly.

Piloting wasn’t her specialty, but she knew it better than a lot of her friends. Which was how Nell had found herself accompanying so many missions, gathering everyone up at the last minute for a hasty escape. This escape in particular had an order about it, and switching it up meant more trouble for Nell.

The Falcon was parked facing the direction it would need to go to get Finn and his party, Rey was in the opposite direction. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be an issue. But the Resistance-the organization that Nell, Finn, and Rey were all a part of-had set up a shield to hide the Falcon from view in case Tie Fighters were spotted earlier than expected.

Nell was going to have to pull an about face with the clunkiest ship she’d every flown with a height limit. Casting aside her unease, Nell prepared the thrusters for a gentle take-off. As was often the case for missions where Nell participated, they often left with more people than when they started. For this reason, flight crew was kept to a minimum. Meaning no secondary engineers aboard to help in case of a ship malfunction.

Mentally crossing her fingers, Nell took the Falcon up and forward a few feet off the ground. There wasn’t much of a runway ahead of her, a wall of trees stood about a hundred feet away from the direction Nell was facing.

Nell heard Rey’s voice in the back of her mind, _let the Force guide you._

Exhaling, Nell attempted to let the Force fill her up. Then she gunned it.

Closer and closer came the tree line, but Nell waited until she felt it. That _feeling._ The Force.

Just before the first tree would have smacked against the Falcon, Nell pulled the left turn lever full tilt. The ship careened wildly to the opposite direction. For a heart-stopping moment, Nell thought she saw a corner of the ship breech the shimmering shield above her.

But then the ship was down again, and Nell was skimming in the opposite direction. She allowed herself a single whoop of victory before recovering herself. Her job was far from over.


	2. Chapter Two

FINN

The underground tunnels leading into Kalomo City smelled worse than Finn had expected, they weren’t supposed to be sewage tunnels. He’d just given over a chunk of his monthly earnings for his new boots, which were keeping his feet mercifully dry from whatever muck was in the water below him. But the boots definitely weren’t going to look as good as they had when the mission had started.

“Is there actual shit in this water?” Came Beaumont’s voice louder than Finn would like from behind him.

“Can you keep your voice down?” Was Finn’s only response. Finn liked Beaumont on base, but he was only moderately helpful on missions like this. Finn’s usual partner was Rey, but she had her own mission on this planet. It happened occasionally, and then Finn would get Beaumont for backup. He couldn’t keep his mind from wandering over to Rey, though. They way the light from Finn’s torch would catch the back of her braids as she navigated, turning to smile at Finn when they’d found their destination…

_Snap out of it_ , Finn told himself. He had a job to do, his secret feelings for Rey could take a back seat.

As they had expected, a metal door with a wheel-like lock appeared ahead of them and to the right. Finn motioned to the door so that Beaumont could see they’d found the target, he nodded and pulled his blaster off of his belt. Finn had a blaster as well, but he didn’t raise it. He never did on missions like these.

Slowly, to avoid making too much noise in the water, the duo made their way to the door. There was no way around it but to turn the lock despite the amount of noise it would make. Intelligence said that there was no high-tech surveillance in this tunnel, it hadn’t been used in many years.

Turning the lock ended up being a two-man job, Finn pulled while Beaumont pushed. After the initial creaking turn Finn was able to muscle open the lock the rest of the way, while Beaumont re-readied his blaster. With a final glance and nod at Beaumont, Finn yanked the door open.

It was a heavy door, but Finn tried to look his most Resistance-y as he laid it against the pipe wall and stepped through the opening with his hands raised. He had to duck and look down as he stepped into the doorway with his hands raised, and when he looked up he saw the scene he was expecting.

It was always the same. A dark, hidden room. A cowering group of individuals, most of the time never over the age of 30. Ex-Stormtroopers, just like Finn.

This group was relatively young, Finn guessed they were all teenagers. They’d had a hard time, Finn could tell. A stack of white regulation armer was piled in the corner, everyone still wearing their trooper blacks. The long sleeves and pants were designed for deep space, not a tiny hidden bunker with little airflow. 

The smell of sweat and human waste was overwhelming, but nothing Finn hadn’t encountered before. This group did have the advantage of their blasters, which many of them raised at the sight of Finn and Beaumont. Finn saw the hunger in their eyes, and the way their trooper blacks hung off of their bodies. He proceeded with caution, hands still raised.

“My name is Finn, I’m with the Resistance.” He told them, and ever so slowly he brought his hands down to the watch on his left wrist. Finn saw the blasters in front of him follow his movements. He twisted the watch face to reveal the Resistance symbol.

At the sight of it, some of the crowd in front of him moved in for a better look. Excitement was clear on their faces. The more hardened members of the group kept their blasters raised.

“And him? With the blaster?” One of them said, motioning to Beaumont who had followed behind Finn. 

Finn turned to look at Beaumont. His almost white blond hair was plastered to the sides of his face from the humidity. Beaumont had been a professor of history before the war, his school had been destroyed and most of the scholars killed. Beaumont was one of the few who made it to safety. He had a battle-worn look about him, but there was no denying he had the posture of someone more suited to a classroom than stealth missions.

“That’s my friend Beaumont, he’s Resistance too. You can lower the blaster.” Finn said, looking back at Beau who complied immediately. Finn turned back to the group, the blasters were lowered, but not holstered. Finn couldn’t blame them.

“You want to get out of here?” Finn asked the group at large, and the excitement grew. Only one person still looked weary. He was the one who had spoken for the group. He stood taller than Finn, though with a look that suggested he was still growing. His cheeks were still soft, and his eyes were more scared than anything. He had a similar complexion to Poe, his dark hair still cropped closely to his head.

“Come on, Dez. That’s the symbol.” Said a girl from the back of the small room, stepping forward to put a hand on Dez’s shoulder. Her dark red hair was pulled back into two messy braids.

“You don’t think they could be First Order spies?” Dez shot back at her. 

_This would be easier if Rey was here,_ Finn thought. It seemed as though to deter any weak links in the First Order, Finn’s escape from their ranks had been hushed up. Rey on the other hand, her face was on every wanted poster in the galaxy. If this group had seen her, hell, even if Poe had come on this mission they would have been convinced immediately. Poe was essentially locked to the main screen in the command center these days though.

“Look, you can’t stay here. You’ll all die slowly from starvation or illness. Is that what you want for everyone?” Finn tried to appeal to Dez’s sense of leadership, he assumed that Dez must be the squadron leader for their unit. The red haired girl moved her hand from Dez’s shoulder and grabbed his hand.

“Lead the way.” She said to Finn, and with a nod to the group they all shuffled out of their hiding place and into the ranks of the Resistance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, Finn's leading the stormtrooper rebellion!


	3. Chapter Three

REY

Rey was on her stomach, sliding along in a tunnel that would have scared the daylight out of Finn if he had been here. Using her elbows to propel herself forward and her knees and tips of her shoes on the sides of the tunnel for extra momentum, Rey thought about how this tunnel would have been no problem for her as a child. She’d shimmied along more makeshift tunnels on downed Star Destroyers looking for parts than Rey could count.

As an adult though, this narrow tunnel proved trickier than she thought. The farther along she went, the wetter her surroundings became as well. First just a change in temperature, followed by damp walls, and then puddles underneath her stomach and water dripping onto her hair. The hasty bun Rey had made for her hair was getting pulled along the jagged top of the tunnel, she pulled it out, letting her brown hair swing down onto her shoulders.

She’d need to have Rose cut it again, if it got too long it got in the way.

Finally, Rey spotted a change of light up ahead. She’d made it to the end of the tunnel, sighing with relief and pushing thoughts of leaving again through the tunnel out of her mind, Rey picked up her speed.

But a curious sensation pulled her up short. _No, not right now,_ Rey thought. She tried to block it out, moving as fast as she could to the end of the tunnel. But to no avail, Rey suddenly found herself on a smooth tile floor.

_I’m not really here,_ Rey reminded herself. She slowly looked up, searching for him. It was the same again, she’d been brought to his living quarters. And once again, he was sleeping. Rey stood up quietly, she didn’t want to let him know that she was here in his mind.

When Ben Solo was asleep, he looked like the boy Luke Skywalker had described. The blankets were pulled up to his chin, and his hair was everywhere. Not that it was much more orderly when he was awake. Rey stepped closer, he must have been deeply asleep because his mouth was slightly open and she could hear him slowly breathing in and out.

It was not lost on Rey that she was called to him so often while he was sleeping, he was dreaming about her. Since their conversation in front of the fire on Ach-To, Rey and Ben had yet to talk to each other when they were brought together.

Rey was most often brought to Ben when he was sleeping, and Ben to Rey when she was training. Strangely, Rey could always see Ben’s surroundings but he could never see hers. Or so she assumed, as he’d never looked away from her in the moments that she noticed him in the corner as she tried again and again to master the ways of the Force.

Rey was just wondering whether he had been wearing a shirt when he went to bed ( _snap out of it_ , Rey cautioned herself) when she sensed a low rumbling from her end of the connection. For a brief moment, Ben’s eyes flew open and locked with Rey’s. Then she was back in the tunnel, which was shaking around her.

Thoughts of being buried under a hundred feet of stone propelled Rey forward faster than she would have imagined. Just as the tunnel began to collapse, Rey’s hands found the exit and she pushed herself free with a yell. After a heartbeat of being airborne, she landed in a freezing body of water.

For a frightening moment, Rey couldn’t figure out which way was up until her foot connected with a water plant. Moving in the opposite direction, her face finally broke to the surface. Coughing up water that had snuck into her airways on impact, Rey struck out towards the center of what appeared to be an enormous cave. Familiar territory for her.

Finn had taught her how to swim on the previous Life Day, but the water had been warm then. The coldness in the cave seemed to seep into Rey’s skin, and it made any movements ten times more difficult than it should have been. When she’d hauled herself up onto the rock, Rey half expected to see a mirror. 

“Shake it off, Rey.” She murmured to herself, a habit from the days spent on Jakku with no one to talk back. Rey took a moment to gather herself, and admonish the fact that she should have called on the Force to help her in the water. As General Leia had constantly reminded her, drawing strength from the Force should be her first instinct. 

That was the trouble though. Another habit from Jakku, her first instinct was to survive.

Rey stood up and studied her surroundings, squeezing water out of her hair and lamenting the fact that she’d lost her hair band in the water. The tunnel that had been her way in was gone, either due to natural events or the Force bending in a way of someone else’s doing. 

The cavern was large enough to hold multiple rock islands like the one Rey was currently standing on. It was hard to see how big the space actually was, the only light came from small openings and cracks in the ceiling above. A soft beeping noise from her pocket caught Rey’s attention. She pulled out her portable communicator, which was beeping and emitting a blinking red light.

As she suspected, calls were unable to reach her while she was navigating the tunnels. While now out in the cavern, the calls she had set to record mode were coming through.

“Leader Two, this is the Falcon.”

“Leader Two?”

“Rey?”

Nell had been calling her. Rey had a soft spot for Nell, both of whom had similar upbringings. Rey often brought Nell on their recovery missions, hoping to mentor her as Leia had once done for Rey. But she shouldn’t have been contacting her so soon, Rey worried something may have gone wrong.

“Come in Falcon, this is Leader Two.” Rey said into the communicator. Nell answered at once.

“There you are!” Rey could hear the relief in Nell’s voice, seems they were both worried about each other.

“I’m coming to rendezvous two right now, are you ready?” Nell asked.

“What happened to Finn? He can’t be done yet.” Rey demanded.

“Tie’s were incoming earlier than expected, he gave me orders to get you first.”

“Tie Fighters?” Rey’s words bounced around her, echoing off the damp walls of the cavern. How could they have found them so quickly?

“They might be here for us, or they’re here for the missing squadron. We won’t know until we’re back on base.” Nell said, seeming to understand Rey’s unanswered question.

“My exit is blocked, and I haven’t even gotten a chance to look around yet.” Rey said distractedly, searching for the edges of the cavern again.

“I’m pulling up our intelligence. I’ll note tunnel C is blocked, what’d you do to it?” Nell asked, a note of humor in her voice.

“It wasn’t my fault.” Rey responded with a breathy and short laugh.

“It looks like your only route is down and out, through the water I mean. The cavern walls don’t extend too far down into the ocean. I can track the communicator and wait on the other side to pick you up.” Nell said, at the same moment that Rey spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

“Give me five minutes.”

“Okay commander, but remember we still have to get Finn.” Nell sounded uncertain.

“You don’t have to call me commander, and don’t worry. I’ll never forget about Finn.” Rey was hurriedly putting the communicator back in her pocket before Nell could respond. She dove into the water opposite from where she had fallen out of the tunnel and struck out towards a rock island at the far edge of the cavern.

The water was freezing, and Rey kept having to push her hair out of her face. She wished she wasn’t wearing her shoes, they were holding Rey back from her full speed but she shuddered to think about how cold her feet would be without them. 

Rey had to jump over a couple rock islands on the way, but she finally made it to her destination. Clambering out of the water excitedly, she approached what she’d come to this spot for. Tucked into a little alcove in the rocks sat a book. It was unremarkable in appearance, but the Force moved around it in a way that Rey was unsure how she’d missed it before.

Rey extracted a small chip from the bag attached to her belt, she secured it to the book and activated the chip’s protective skin. Now the book would stay dry on her journey out of the cave, if only she had something similar for herself.

She was close to the edge of the cavern now, only two small rock islands away. As Rey moved in that direction, she thought how lucky she’d been on this trip. Apart from nearly being buried in a tunnel, she’d had no other issues. Most of the time she wasn’t this lucky, Jedi artifacts were generally less guarded than Sith artifacts. But they were usually guarded in some way.

Rey looked over the edge of the last island at the side of the cavern, the water was so dark it appeared to be black on this side. _It must be really deep,_ Rey thought. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, she would need to draw on the Force to get herself under and out in time.

Trying to picture the Force filling her lungs with all the air she’d need, Rey took a final breath and dove down one last time. Despite the blackness of the water, Rey could see where the bottom of the cavern extended. She swam deeper, controlling her unease by calling on the Force to guide her.

The water was more blue on the other side of the cave, it was becoming more apparent as Rey swam closer. Just as she’d thought that she wouldn’t need to draw on extra support from the Force to make it through, the current caught her.

It was unlike any current she’d ever felt, it simply had to be unnatural. No regular current could rip along at this speed. Rey lost all sense of direction as she tumbled over and over again in the cold depths. It was a moment where she should’ve let the Force guide her, but the survival instinct was overpowering.

Panicking, Rey called out. Not for Nell, who was closest and would have made the most sense. But for Ben, and if Rey hadn’t been so preoccupied with keeping herself alive, she would have realized that it would always be Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First look at Ben, my favorite problematic boy :)


	4. Chapter Four

NELL

Much more than the allotted five minutes had passed, and Nell was starting to get anxious. The Resistance communicators could be tracked to a certain distance, but they weren’t as accurate as the newest models. Or so Rose had told her over lunch one day. This was as close as Nell could track Rey’s communicator, but she worried something was off about it.

Perhaps she’d gotten stuck trying to get underneath the cavern walls, or some monstrous sea-creature was waiting just below the Falcon. Shuddering, unable to wait in the pilot’s seat any longer, Nell strode quickly to the loading ramp. Hitting the lever, Nell watched the ramp slowly descend towards the water. 

The Falcon hadn’t landed, it was still airborne but waiting in place. With the ramp lowered all the way, the end just dipped into the surf. There wasn’t much wind on this side of Kalomo, but the ocean was churning as though a storm was on its way. This struck Nell as ominous, she hesitantly walked closer to the water. 

She shook out her shoulders and tried to calm her breathing, just as she’d done a hundred times before on the base or when she’d needed a solitary moment on a crowded ship. Nell reached out through the Force, looking for Rey. There was _something_ out there, but the connection seemed muddled.

With her eyes closed, Nell didn’t notice the sneaker wave extend onto the ramp. The unexpected force of it knocked Nell off her feet. The moment her legs were submerged in the ocean she felt the current. It was unlike anything she’d felt before, and Nell had spent a good portion of her early childhood in the ocean. 

The tide yanked her so far into the water that Nell only had just a couple seconds to grab hold of the ramp. Her head was submerged for a moment, and Nell let out a, “Whoa!” When she came back up. Clinging to the side of the ramp, Nell realized that the current was the probable issue with Rey’s return to the ship.

Still mostly in the water, Nell gathered up the Force around her again and reached out for Rey. Getting a tighter hold with one hand on the ramp, Nell physically held out her hand under the water as well.

“There you are,” She mumbled. The Force moved around Rey in a way that she hadn’t seen in anyone else, it was more than just a give and take. The Force was fond of Rey, it was as if they were friends. Now that Nell was in the water as well, she could feel Rey’s presence in the depths below. 

Nell focused all her energy on bringing Rey’s physical being to her outstretched hand, a massively difficult endeavor as it was almost too much to hold her hand out in that current. The rest of Nell’s body was pressed against the underside of the ramp. Moving books and lightsaber’s into your hand was one thing, bringing a whole person was almost too much.

Surprisingly for Nell though, a moment later her hand grasped onto Rey’s wrist. The added pressure of Rey’s bodyweight brought Nell under the surf, but she didn’t release her grip on the ramp. Nell pulled as hard as she could to bring Rey close enough to the edge of the ramp to grab ahold herself, then she felt Rey yank her up to the surface as well.

The return of air was a shock, and Nell gasped and spluttered as she clambered up out of the water. It was _freezing_ , but the effort Nell had just exerted was enough to lay her out on the ramp panting for air. Rey sat next to her, “Thanks for doing that,” she said kindly.

Nell waved her hand in acknowledgment, “That’s not a natural current.”

“I figured, that must be to deter any unwanted visitors. Wonder who set it up..” Rey said, trailing off thoughtfully. Nell dragged herself up and hurried into the Falcon, where she opened up the base of the sitting area and pulled out a couple blankets. She tossed one to Rey who had followed her inside, then used the other one to wrap around herself.

“The ocean on my home world was _not_ cold, we could stay out all day and all night in the water and it would still be warm.” Nell said, shivering.

Rey was already striding towards the cockpit, “I really do want to hear about it, but let’s get the rest of the team first.” She called over her shoulder.

When Nell arrived in the cockpit, Rey was already in the pilot’s seat waiting for takeoff. Nell took the copilot’s seat and primed the engine, it took seconds since they hadn’t officially landed. As Rey steered them back to rendezvous one, Nell started on communications.

“Leader One, this is the Falcon.” Nell said as she hit the correct frequency on the scanner.

“Leader One checking in, we’ve completed the objective and are headed to the pickup point. Did you get Leader Two?”

“Sitting right next to me, have you seen any First Order ships in the area?” Nell asked.

“Negative, check in with central command to see where they’re stationed.” Finn said.

“Affirmative, keep a look out and we’ll see you soon.”

“Got it.”

Nell worked on switching frequencies, “Did you find what you were looking for?” She asked Rey.

“Oh, yeah.” She said, opening her bag and pulling out a book. It was small, only slightly larger than a hand. But it had a feeling to it, a Force feeling.

“Another book, Jannah will be happy.” Nell said as she hit the correct frequency for central command.

“Command this is the Falcon, do you have eyes on the First Order ships in the area?” Nell asked.

General Poe Dameron’s voice responded, “They’ve moved to an area nearby rendezvous one, we think they’re here for the missing troopers. We contacted the Rebellion sympathizers on Kalomo and they sent someone out to move the cloaking system. Stay under the height limit and you should be out of sight from the Tie’s.”

“Affirmative, we’re making our approach.” Nell said.

“Good luck, both of you.” Poe said as Nell switched off the communicators.

“ _Should_ be out of sight.” Rey said, repeating the words that were bouncing around Nell’s head as well. 

Nell smiled, “Should’s a great word to use if you’re trying to instill confidence.”

“Well, then I feel more confident already. Let’s go get Finn.” Rey said with a laugh. She brought the Falcon lower to the ground in preparation for a stealthy extraction.


	5. Chapter Five

ROSE

“But how likely _is it_ that they’re going to be seen?” Rose Tico asked uncertainly as Poe Dameron stepped away from the communications monitor. Poe gave her a side eye glance as he strode over to Kadel Connix at a different monitor, who was overseeing a flight team on a supply run.

“Eh, anyone’s guess.” He said nonchalantly. Rose bristled at his words.

“Don’t fuck with me right now, Dameron.” She said threateningly. Poe wasn’t a particularly tall man, and Rose didn’t even come close to him in height, but she and her electric zapper certainly packed a punch when needed.

“As long as they keep under the stealth shield they should be fine,” He said reassuringly, “Finn and Beau are already waiting with their extraction group.” He leaned over to talk to Kadel, but at the last moment turned back to Rose and said, “Why don’t you go be their lead on communications and strategy.”

Rose balked, she had certainly been given more and more responsibilities at command, but to lead an entire _mission_? Poe grinned at her surprise, gave her a comedic solute, and struck up his conversation with Kadel.

Tu-Ak, the Akian with whom Rose had been pouring over engineering plans with for the next base gave her a gentle push in the direction of the main monitor with one of his four arms. Rose let out a nervous laugh, “We’ll keep going tomorrow, mark the page with the main hanger. I like the idea of running some cables underground before the whole convoy moves in, make sure you put that in the notes.” Rose told him, speaking while walking backwards toward the monitor.

Tu-Ak waved her away with one hand, already scribbling on multiple sections of the paper with his other arms. Rose turned around and rubbed her hands together, slightly enjoying the nervous fluttering in her stomach. There were five other members of the Resistance already monitoring the extraction mission, they all turned to Rose as she walked up.

“At your service, Lieutenant Tico.” One of them said in greeting, they all saluted her (without irony this time). Once Rose saluted back they returned to their stations. She walked over to the communications system, made sure the frequency was set for the extraction group and began to speak.

“Leader One, this is command.” She said, betting that Finn would be able to hear the grin in her voice. The picture on the main monitor changed to the layout of rendezvous one, complete with the heat signature for Finn’s group.

“Fancy hearing you, Lieutenant.” Finn said.

“The Falcon is heading to you,” She looked at the corner of the main monitor, where an ETA was listed for extraction, “Five minutes till pickup.”

“Thanks for getting those shields moved, First Order ships still a healthy distance away from us?” Finn asked.

The ETA for the Falcon switched to distance location for the Tie Fighters and larger First Order ships, “A good twenty-five clicks.”

“Excellent, keep us posted.” Finn said.

“You got it, command logging off.” Rose said.

“Aye aye, Lieutenant.” Finn said, teasing. Rose couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she ended the signal.

“Can you switch to a view of the Falcon?” Rose asked the team at large, unsure which person was in charge of which job. A Twi’lek named Daanyl brought up the blinking dot on the radar, which Rose knew to be the Falcon.

“Take the view up a little bit higher, will you? I want to make sure they’ve got clear airspace.” Rose asked, and the view instantly changed. There were three other red blinking dots in the vicinity.

“Thank you, Daanyl. And those are…?” Rose asked.

“The two on the left are cargo ships,” Catalan Brigs said, her eyes moving back and forth rapidly as she read the data out to Rose, “The ship on the right is full of passengers, inter-planetary and civilians.”

“Thanks, Cat.”

“The Falcon is moving into the shield zone.” Daanyl called out. Rose hurriedly switched channels on the communications system to the Falcon.

“Falcon, this is command. You’re approaching the cloaking shields, bring your flight path lower down.” Rose told them, without waiting for the formal response to her greeting.

“Affirmative. Nice to hear your voice, too.” Said Nell through the speaker, and Rose watched the height drop on the monitor. 

“I’m going to keep this channel open while you make your approach, just in case.” Rose said.

“Thanks Lieutenant.” Nell responded, all business. Rose could tell Nell was trying to take her role as seriously as Rose was. Despite Nell’s feelings of inadequacy—which she often disclosed to Rose over drinks on their free evenings—she clearly had nothing to worry about. Nell worried that she wouldn’t be taken seriously, or shouldn’t be taken seriously, due to her younger age. To which Rose repeatedly assured her that most Resistance (and before them, Rebellion) members joined up at the same age as her, they’ve all just had time to get older and debatably wiser.

The main monitor made a pinging noise, “You’re under the shields, no response from the First Order ships. I think you made it in under their radar.” Someone gave a “Whoop!” behind Rose as she finished speaking, she turned to see Poe grinning at her. Rose made a face at him before turning back to the screen.

“Do you have eyes on Leader One?” Rose asked.

“Yep, we’re landing right now.” Nell responded, and Rose watched the Falcon on the screen slow down and come to a stop. As Finn, Beau, and their extraction group boarded, Rose let out a shaky breath of relief. Halfway done, and all had gone smoothly so far. Despite the unexpected First Order presence and the changing of the rendezvous points at the beginning, the mission was going well.

“We’re all boarded command,” This time it was Rey speaking, “Permission to take flight?”

But Rose had a thought, “Hold your ground, give me one moment.”

She turned to Catalan, “Do we have any way to provide a distraction for the First Order while they leave planet? Something non-life form maybe?” 

“Searching for droid ships in nearby,” Said Ivan from behind Rose. Ivan was technically a technology and surveillance specialist, and what that really meant was that he hacked into minimally guarded equipment. In this case, a ship manned by droids.

“Sending something now, the ship will fly right over the heads of those First Order ships.” Ivan announced. Rose didn’t ask who’s ship he had just commandeered, she didn’t really want to know. She hated stealing, even in times of war.

The team at the main command screen watched the hub of First Order ships anxiously for the next few minutes, waiting to see if they would take the bait. Rose was just starting to wonder if they would ignore it when Catalan spoke up.

“We’ve got two Tie’s taking the bait, their ground troops will be watching. Ready to give the Falcon an all clear on your command, Lieutenant.”

“Go, Rey.” Rose said into the communicator, and the team watched as the Falcon rose up and departed without incident. Rose refused to relax until they were safely in hyperspace, and it seemed to take eons for them to get there.

“She’s gotta steer the ship away from the First Order hub, remember?” Said Poe, who had walked over to stand behind her. Rose said nothing in response, eyes glued to the screen. Finally after an agonizing fifteen minutes, Rose heard Nell say, “Making the jump to hyperspace.” and the red dot on the screen that was the Falcon jumped off their radar. 

Cheers and many claps on the back were awaiting Rose at Nell’s words, and she grinned sheepishly but proud at herself as Poe shook her shoulders a few times before hugging her and joining in on the cheers.

In times like these, Rose remembered her sister Paige. Rose would give every accomplishment she’d made with the Resistance away if it would bring her sister back, but she thanked the Force that she had found the next best thing. The mission wasn’t entirely complete until the Falcon returned to base safely, so Rose turned her attention back to her command screen, still grinning and elated to be surrounded by her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah Rosie, I love this bb to death. I also have an actual baby in my house, which makes for an erratic posting schedule!


	6. Chapter Six

REY

It was a surprise that he took so long. Rey had fretted all the way through the flight to Finn, the pick-up, and their exit from Kalomo. Finn was long out of the cockpit and checking on the rescued trooper squad, and as the stars around the Falcon stretched and elongated as they moved into hyperspace, Rey turned to Nell.

“I’ll watch the controls, can you go help Finn and Beau with whatever they need?” She asked. Nell nodded and left without questions. Rey watched her go, she was a curious kid, not much younger than Rey had been when she’d met Finn for the first time. Although it had only been four years, wartime seemed to make it feel twice if not three times as long.

As soon as Nell’s footsteps were out of earshot, Rey felt him join her in the copilot’s seat.

“You called?” Ben said nonchalantly, giving Rey a side-eyed look.

“We’re not friends.” Rey said forcefully. If Ben was at all taken aback, he didn’t show it. In fact he grinned at her and Rey was shocked to see him smile. It softened his features, and Rey could finally see Han in him.

“I didn’t say we were, but you did call me. So…” He trailed off. Rey crossed her arms across tightly and said, “It was a moment of panic, I won’t do it again.”

“I don’t know how much help I’d be anyway, I’m not really here am I? And here, I’m guessing, is the Millennium Falcon?” Ben guessed correctly. Rey tried to hide her face, since she was sure it was betraying her.

“What makes you think that?” She asked.

Ben shrugged, “I grew up in the Falcon, Rey. Even if I see you sitting next to me on my bed, we look like we’re on the Falcon. If I’ve got the spacing right, we’re in the piloting seats.”

He was right again, but Rey made no move to answer him. She kept her hands away from the controls, as that would have been too obvious.

“You can go now, I’m busy.” She said, refusing to meet his look, “And stop staring at me.”

“Why? You stare at me, and when I’m sleeping. That’s rude you know, especially with someone who’s almost been murdered while they’re asleep.” He said, referencing Luke. Ben kept his voice light, but Rey could tell he was still scared. He probably dreamt about it as often as she did about Jakku, watching a ship fly off into the unknown…

“I don’t do it on purpose.” She said with as much dignity as she could muster.

“Ah, but you are curious about me. I can feel it.” Rey jumped up quickly at his words, she could tell she’d shocked him with her sudden movement.

“Stay out of my head, and get out! Don’t come back either.” Rey yelled at him, forgetting she was on a full ship. Ben looked hurt, and was that remorse in his eyes as well?

“I’m sorry, you just have the most vibrant Force signature. Draws people in.” He said, surely wanting to say more but Rey cut him off.

“No don’t say anything else, leave now.” She didn’t yell this time, but her words were cutting all the same.

“Rey, are you okay?” It was Finn, standing in the doorway and looking at Rey with concern. “I heard you shouting.” Rey turned back to the copilot chair, but Ben was gone. As she’d asked.

“It’s nothing, I feel asleep and had a bad dream. I’m fine though.” She lied. Throughout the years of connecting with Ben, they’d lost their significance. Rey didn’t want to burden anyone with the knowledge that she was struggling, or accuse her of going to the dark side. What was an occasional glance at their number one enemy. Although he hadn’t been acting on the evil tendencies that Rey associated him with. He’d seemed, just nice.

“Well, if you’re sure you’re okay…when we get back you need to go to the med bay just to be sure.” Finn said. Rey smiled and nodded, “You got it.”

“Are you well enough to give us some help back here? A few of them could use some of that Force healing thing you do.”

Rey laughed, “That’s an oversimplification, but yes. Of course.”

She followed him back into the main hull of the ship. There seemed to be a little less than twenty rescued former stormtroopers, now that Rey was taking a good look at them. Rey could see the back of Nell’s head, her black hair pulled back into a knot at the base of her neck as she crouched down in front of two people who were seated against the wall. 

Walking over to them, Rey crouched down as well. Nell turned as Rey approached, “Oh, thank the Force. I don’t think I’ll ever get this down.” She said, gesturing towards one of the people on the ground. It was a girl who by the looks of her legs was taller than both Rey and Nell, her kind face traced with worry as she took in Nell’s frantic state. 

“You just need more practice, and conviction.” Rey said, attempting to ease some calm into Nell to avoid causing a panic with the couple in front of them. “What’s your name?” She asked the girl, forgetting for a moment she probably only had a designation number.

“Ivy” The girl said defiantly, and Rey didn’t question it.

“That’s a pretty name, I’m Rey.” Nell moved out of the way as Rey examined the wound on Ivy’s shoulder she had been attempting to heal. She could see why Nell had been in a panic, the wound was old and clearly in a state of infection.

“I know who you are, we all do.” Said the boy sitting next to Ivy.

“Seems I’m less of a no one every passing day,” Rey mumbled, “And you are?”

“Dez” Was all he offered. Not a wordy bunch, this lot.

“How’d you end up with this wound?” Rey asked, gently touching just underneath the gash. This was no blaster wound, it extended from the top of her shoulder all the way down to her armpit.

“First Order paid off some of the locals to fight with them, don’t expect it was much money but they’re so starved for resources they probably took anything they offered. They don’t fight with blasters, they were using spears but with what looked like a knife at the end.” Ivy said with a wince in response to Rey’s touch.

Rey was already gathering up the Force energy she would need for this wound, which wasn’t exceptionally deep. Just marred by infection, causing her whole left shoulder to be red and swollen. This use of the Force required something from Rey as well, a bit of her life energy. She pictured her own energy and that of the Force combining, and slowly extending itself into Ivy. 

Rey closed her eyes to concentrate, but she heard Ivy’s gasp, then sigh of relief. When she opened her eyes again, the gash had turned into a scar. The redness of infection already lessening. Ivy and Dez were looking at each other in wonder.

“What do you say?” Nell teased.

“Thank you,” Ivy said without hesitation, “I didn’t know the Force could be used like this.”

Rey smiled sadly, “There’s a lot we don’t know.” She stood up and gestured for Nell to follow her.

“I’m sure there’s more where that came from for you to practice with, let’s give it another go.” Rey told her. After the years of practice, healing smaller injuries like Ivy’s no longer caused Rey physical pain. She never extended herself too far though, just in case. You never knew what the next moment could bring.

As Nell struck up conversation with a new group of people, the shape of a man in the corner of the ship caught her eye. Turning slightly, she saw Ben again. He was standing at the edge of the room, staring at her intently. Rey’s stomach dropped, had he seen what she’d just done? Healing using the Force was an ancient practice, one she doubted Ben had learned at school.

Ben offered a small, apologetic smile. Rey was inclined to return it for a moment, and then she remembered that he was the Supreme Leader of the First Order. It was he who was responsible for the injuries and years of suffering that had befallen the group of people in the room with them.

Giving him a look of loathing, Rey turned away. She seemed to feel his disappointment, then sensed their connection end as abruptly as it started.


End file.
